Love and War
by Silentblood04
Summary: Lost isn’t a new thing to Christina Molloy. She has lost family members. She lost her band mates and friends when she transferred to Hogwarts. Now as she settles into a new school she meets Fred Weasley and another lost is imminent. Unfortunately, losing
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 Diagon Ally 

A girl about 15 years old, accompanied by what appeared to be her father got out of a London taxi and into the drizzly rain that had been threatening to fall since that morning. The girl was about 5'2 and had a slight tan. She had hazel eyes and long black hair that was covered by a large purple, silk hood from her silk robes.

Her father, a small man with black, well kept hair and deep blue, but soft eyes looked at the place they had stopped outside and asked his daughter, in a slight, but none the less, a very Irish accent, "Are you sure this is it? It's very….I dunno… Pub like!" The girl looked at the old sign on the pub and the street sign down the road. "Yep this is it. It's the right street and it's called the Leaky Cauldron." She looked back at her father as he thanked and paid the taxi driver, who looked bewildered and drove off mumbling, "Always with the weird clothes, what's with this street…" Her father crossed the street to stand beside her. "Ok, well you're the smart one, Krissy. Lets go." And they both walked inside.

Her father felt sort of out of place among all the witches and wizards, but she didn't. She walked over to the bar and asked, "Err, excuse me? Sir?" The barkeeper turned around and saw a very nervous father and a shy looking girl. "Yes, dear?" "Eh…I was wondering how to get to Diagon Ally?" The barkeeper smiled, "Let me guess, you're Ms. Molloy? Christina Molloy if I'm not mistaken. Buying your school supplies?" She nodded, "Thought so. You're the image of your sister." The girl flinched slightly. She didn't like to talk about her sister. "Ok, Follow me please." He walked out into a back area followed by Christina and her father. It was outside but was very small and was surrounded by high walls. "Now," The barkeeper said, "Just tap this brick with your wand," She did as she was told, and the wall pulled apart to reveal Diagon Ally. "And there you go, as easy as that." "Oh, thank you! Bye for now!" Christina said as she dragged her father into the ally.

She walked along the street in amazement. It was so alive with people. They went to Gringots bank first, to exchange her muggle money into Galleons, Sickles and Knuts. She pulled down her hood when she went inside, so as she could get a better look at the place. It was full of large counters and tiny goblins. Her father was a little nervous about the goblins but joined a queue at an exchange counter. While she was waiting for her father to get the money, she decided to look around. She wasn't looking where she was going and bumped into someone so hard she fell to the floor. Feeling like an idiot, she tried to make the best of it and laugh. A hand was offered to help her up, and once she was standing she looked up to thank the person. But she couldn't get the words out. Standing before her was the nicest looking guy, wizard or muggle, she had seen since leaving Beauxbatons the summer before. He was tall, and around 16 years old. He had nice muscle-y arms for his age (not really big, just nice, ya know?), red hair that was kind of messy and the cutest freckles ever. But the thing that caught her off-guard was how dreamy his eyes were.

"Sorry about that" He said, apologetically, "I was trying to hide from my brother when I ran into you, are you ok?" She just nodded. He was about to say something else when a woman's voice, as clear as a bell, screamed behind him, "FRED WEASLEY!" The guy winced and dropped his head "Watch where you are going! Are you alright dear?" The woman came up to Christina and brushed some dust from the floor off her robes. She was as red haired as the boy and was a little smaller. She was a plump sort of woman but even by looking at her you could tell she was a sweet and happy person. Christina finally found her voice and said, "Yes, I'm fine."

"Did my son apologise?" She glared at Fred who was going red, obviously embarrassed. "Mom! Of Course I apologised!" Christina turned to the woman. "Ms…Eh.. Weasley, it was as much my fault, I wasn't watching where I was going. And yes…eh… Fred was it?" he nodded yes. "Fred did apologise." She smiled at Fred before turning back to Ms. Weasley. "Well, that's ok then, dear." Ms. Weasley looked over Christina's shoulder and shouted, "GEORGE!..Oh will you excuse me dear?" Christina nodded and Ms. Weasley ran after a guy who looked _extremely_ like Fred, although she only got a quick glance at him before he ran off to hide from his mother.

Fred looked at her for a minute and then held out his hand, "We haven't been properly introduced, I'm Fred Weasley and that crazy woman was my mom!" Christina laughed and shook his hand, "I'm Christina Molloy, but everyone calls me Krissy. And she wasn't crazy. She was really nice!" "Whatever you say!" They both laughed for a minute then Fred noticed her purple, silk robes, "I've never seen those kind of robes before, they're much lighter than Hogwarts ones. Where do you go to school?"

She looked down at her robes, slightly embarrassed that they had drawn attention. She assumed that Diagon Ally would have many, many wizards and witches in different robes but black seemed to be the theme here and her deep purple silk robes made her stand out. "Oh, I used to go to Beauxbatons Academy. Because it's really hot there, we have silk robes. Blue ones for special occasions and purple for everyday classroom use. But this year I'm going to Hogwarts so I'm going to have to buys some new robes in a minute, just as soon as my dad is finished changing my money." He looked over in the direction she was looking. There was a nervous looking man changing money with a goblin. "I take it he's a muggle?" Fred asked. "Yeah he is. So is my mom." She said smiling at him. They continued to talk for a few minutes until Christina's father retuned.

"Ok, I got a good bit of money changed." He said before he noticed the tall, red haired boy standing quite close to his daughter. "And who's this?" He asked with a note of 'fathers concern' mixed with curiosity in his voice.

"Oh, dad, this is Fred Weasley. We bumped into each other a few minutes ago. He goes to Hogwarts too." Her dad smiled, "Well, its nice to meet you, Fred!" He shifted the bag of wizard money to his pocket and shook Fred's hand. "Ok, sorry to break you two up but we have a LOT to buy. Hopefully see you soon Mr. Weasley. Come along Christina." And he offered his arm. She pulled back up her hood and linked with him. She turned to Fred, "Well, Goodbye for now. I'll see you soon." And with a backwards glance at him, she walked off with her father into the stream of people in Diagon Ally, her robes flowing behind her in the breeze. 'She was really nice, and kinda cute, especially in those silk robes. I hope I do see her soon.' Fred thought as he went in search of his family.

Christina walked with her father into shop after shop buying her school stuff but when she saw _Quality Quidditch Supplies_, she dragged him in there much to his protest. She walked into the packed shop and headed for the beater section before her father could say anything. She was almost drooling over the newest, strongest bat made. She told her uninterested father about how the Irish international side used the bats in their last game of the season and she proceeded to _beg _her dad to buy it, and he caved in so quickly it even shocked her! The truth was he felt sorry for her going to a new school so he caved in much quicker than he usually would have. Then all she had left to buy were her robes, which as it turned out, would take the longest to get. On their way out of the shop, after purchasing her new robes, they once again bumped into Fred Weasley, but this time he had his whole family with him. "Oh, hi again!" Fred said to Christina, smiling.

"Fred, who's this?" A man that seemed to be his father appeared from behind him. He was slightly shorter than Fred but had the same red hair, although he was slightly bald. He was thinner than his wife but had the same warm smiley expression - as did the rest of the family!

"Oh, dad, this is Christina Molloy and her father." His dad outstretched his hand to her father, "Nice to meet you Mr. Molloy, I'm Arthur Weasley." Mr. Molloy shook his hand and the two families walked down the street chatting. Mr. Weasley was fascinated by muggles and everything to do with them so he took to the Molloy's very quickly, indeed.

As Ms. Weasley fussed over her other 3 children and a boy that had jet black, messy hair, green eyes and who didn't look like he was part of the family about stuff for school, and Mr. Weasley bombarded Mr. Molloy with questions about muggle stuff, Fred and Christina were hanging back slightly from the group while they talked.

"So you live in Ireland! Then how come you went to Beauxbatons instead of Hogwarts?" Fred asked as they quickened their pace slightly to keep up with the others. "Oh, em.." She thought to herself, 'ok, you knew that someone would ask this question, just answer calmly like its nothing at all!' "I think my aunt suggested it, she's a witch and went to Beauxbatons as well. She said it would be good for me to experience another culture, another language. I'm staying with her now. She lives just outside London." "Oh.." Fred nodded and she breathed a silent sigh of relief. "So.." He continued, "You into Quidditch?" She nodded and pulled out her new bat. "I love Quidditch. I used to play back in Beauxbatons. I was a beater. My dad got me this earlier. Best bat ever made to date! I broke my old one in my last game." Fred didn't really hear the last sentence; he was too interested in the bat. "Can I see it?" She laughed to herself, knowing that he hadn't really been listening. "Sure. Do you play Quidditch at Hogwarts?" she asked handing him the bat. After a minute her question registered in his mind and he answered. "Oh…yeah, I'm a beater on my house team, so's George" He pointed to his brother who was deep in discussion with a terrified looking boy, who Fred told her was one of his other brothers, Ron. "George's probably telling him something about spiders. Ron's terrified of them!" He laughed and she asked, "Do you have many brothers and sisters?" He gave back the bat and told her, "Yeah, there's eight in my family…" when he said this he had just a slight tone of resentment in his voice. She wondered why but he continued on talking. "There's Ginny," He pointed out the small red head. "She's in third year, already told you about Ron, he's in fourth year. There's myself and George, we're in sixth year…" His hands clenched before he spoke again but his voice was back to its former happy self when he did. "And then there's Charlie. He's in Romania, works with dragons there!" "Cool" she said with an impressed look on her face. He smiled, "And my oldest brother is Bill, he works as a curse breaker for Gringots bank in Egypt." Her face lit up. "Egypt? That's Awsome!" He smiled"You think?" She smiled back nodding. He paused for a second before asking, "So, do you have any brothers or sisters?" She flinched inside but answered like it was nothing. "No. I don't have any brothers or sisters.." she didn't want to talk about it and luckily the conversation went quickly back to Quidditch without her having to say anything else about her family.

A few minutes later the group reached the Leaky Cauldron and Mr. Weasley insisted that they stay a few minutes more while he bought Mr. Molloy a drink. "Please Arthur, call me Jack! Everyone else does!" Mr. Molloy said pulling up a chair.

Fred introduced Christina to Ginny, Ron, George and Harry over a butterbeer. She was kind of shocked that she was meeting the famous Harry Potter, but she tried to make it unnoticeable and avoided looking at his scar. It was the polite thing to do and whenever her eyes began to drift when he was talking she just locked her eyes on his. All of them were arguing the finer points of Quidditch when Christina's dad came up behind her.

"Ok, Krissy! Time to go!" She stood up and said goodbye to each of the Weasleys (and Harry) separately. Fred was the last one she said goodbye to. Instead of the hearty hand shake and the wave the others got, she gave him a hug (which caught both of them by surprise) and said. "See you on the train!" Then she walked out of the pub and back into the muggle world to get into a taxi to take her back home.

As she sat in the taxi she kept thinking to herself, 'Why did you hug him! You could have left like a dignified person but no, you had to go and do a spur-of-the-moment idea and hug him. Why?' She felt so embarrassed. But she wasn't the only one. Fred sat in his bedroom, brushing off the soot from the floo powder ride back to the burrow. He kept thinking, 'Why did you just stand there! She gave you a hug. A sign of friendship and you just stood there like an idiot! She probably thinks you're a right fool!' He lay back onto his bed and said aloud, "Idiot!" "No your not!" Came his reflection in the mirror across the room. "Good point! At least I said_ 'goodbye'_ to her. Why did you just stand there, Fred? Why didn't you say 'yeah, see you on the train'? Why?" He whispered, more to himself than to the mirror but the sound of his name, screamed from downstairs told him dinner was ready, and he tried to stop his trail of thought.

7


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Hogwarts 

Christina sat in her room, her temporary room anyway. It was only a week ago that she was face to face with him. Only one week and she was missing his smile already, and that wasn't all. She missed his eyes, his messy hair, his cute freckles, and the look on his face when they were arguing about Quidditch, the feel of him when they hugged, the way he said goodbye…

"Come on Krissy! Get a grip on yourself!" She said aloud. Then she thought, 'You're not going to do this! You'll end up hurt because he won't like you. You don't even know if he has a girlfriend! Just stop thinking about him.' But she couldn't help it. 'Its just a crush' She thought. 'You'll forget these feelings in a few days.'

"Krissy, Dear! Time for dinner!" It was her aunt, and to be honest, it was a welcome interruption. Now she didn't have to argue with herself.

Dinner was uncomfortable for Christina. Her Father and aunt talked about old times and laughed about when she first got her letter for Beauxbatons. They were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't notice that Christina hadn't touched anything of her dinner, even though it was her favourite (Chicken and pineapple stir-fry).

Finally she could take no more, "Em, may I be excused?" Her aunt turned to her and without looking at her plate answered, "Of course dear, just put your plate out!" "Thanks." She said throwing her dinner away and putting the plate in the dishwasher. She ran back to her room, picked up her guitar and thought for a few minutes on what to play… "Hmmm, I need a song that won't make me sad but will keep me reminded of my old friends…" She thought aloud. Then a thought struck her and she smiled. "Kyle you're a genius!" she reached across the bed for a tattered looking sheet of parchment and a self-inking quill. "Just a few adjustments, and… perfect! Well.. It's a good song anyway, even if it doesn't suit _perfectly!_" She placed the parchment on her knee and adjusted her guitar before picking up a plec and strumming a few chords.

"_I died,_

_So many years ago_

_But you can me feel_

_Like it isn't so._

_And why you come and be with me, I think I finally know… mmm._

_Your scared, ashamed of what you feel_

_And you can't tell the ones you love, you know they couldn't deal,_

_And whispers in the dead girl's ear, it doesn't make it real_

_That's great, but I don't wanna play_

_Cos being with you touches me more than I can say_

_And since I'm only dead to you I'm saying stay away_

_And let me rest in peace_

_Let me rest in peace_

_Let me get some sleep_

_Let me take my love and burry it in a hole six foot deep_

_I can lay my body down but I can't find my sweet release_

_So let me rest in peace"_

Her father heard some music coming from his daughter's room and decided to investigate. He lent against the wall just outside her half open door and listened carefully.

"_You know, you're a wicked slayer, _

_And you'd just love to play the part_

_That you might misbehave_

_Until you do I'm telling you stop visiting my grave_

_And let me rest in peace_

_I know I should go, _

_But I follow you like a girl possessed_

_There's a traitor here beneath my breast_

_And it hurts me more than you've ever guessed_

_If my heat could beat it would break my chest_

_But I can see, your unimpressed so leave me be _

_And Let me rest in peace_

_Let me get some sleep_

_Let me take my love and burry it in a hole six foot deep_

_I can lay my body down but I cant find my sweet release _

_Let me rest in peace _

_Why wont you_

_Let me rest in peace."_

"Rest in Peace" by James Marsters

Mr. Molloy smiled. 'She's such a good singer, so like her mother. I'm glad she's a witch, and maybe now that she's going to Hogwarts, she can make a few more friends that live near us.' He thought as he began to walk back towards the Kitchen to help clear the table. He had a feeling that Kyle had something to do with that song. She and him had often spent hours writing music and lyrics about anything that came to mind. She had loved being with her band and now she had to go to a different school, away from everyone. 'No,' he thought, 'She had a choice. She could have stayed.' He was trying to convince himself more than anything that she wanted this, but he didn't really know if she did. Although, he promised himself he wouldn't make it awkward between them by asking why she did want to change. He'd just leave it be.

He finished the table and went up to his room and his eye caught the pictures on his desk. One was of the family when Christina was a newborn baby. The four of them looked so happy on that glorious day. Tears began to form in his eyes. Who would have guessed that just years later they would be reduced to just three…

"Jack? Terminator 2 is on, fancy a watch?" came a voice from the living room. "Terminator 2? Sure! I'll be right down, Fiona!" He answered wiping away his tears and heading down the stairs, still thinking of his daughter, and how close she was to her old friends. The rest of day was as dull as ever. She just sat around watching T.V., writing to her friends and looking over her books for school.

Over the next two weeks nothing happened out of the ordinary. A few pillow fighting incidents with Aunt Fiona, a few good action movies, a few letters that Christina hid with spy-like accuracy, but that was it.

September first finally rolled around and Christina was up early to make sure she had packed everything. She changed into a pair of her baggy jeans and a black tank top before she put her trunk and her owl in the hall and headed for breakfast. Just as she was sitting down, the phone rang and she dived to get to it.

"Hello?"

"Hi, it's mom! How are you?"

"Mom! I'm great! I'm packed and ready to go. We're gonna leave in a few minutes because it's a long drive to the station. How are you?"

"Oh, I'm great! Just wanted to wish you well! I guess the next time I see you will be at Christmas! I have to go now because I'm going to miss my own train. But tell your father and aunt I said hi! And I'll miss you!"

"Aw, miss you too, mom. I'll tell them in a few minutes. Ok, Bye!"

"Bye, love you!"

"Love you too." And she hung up. She went over to the TV and turned it off and went to go sit in the hall. She was too anxious to eat. "Christina? You ready to hit the road?" Her father appeared from around the corner, car keys in hand. "Oh, I see you are. Got everything packed?"

She thought for a minute and said, "Yeah I think so!" "You've got your bat? And your broom?" She jumped up. "Eh, no.." and ran off. 'Christina, why do you keep them under your bed! Silly girl!' She thought. It wasn't unusual for her to talk to herself, aloud or in her head. She had often done it at Beauxbatons, when she was just, plain, sick of speaking French! It was a way she comforted herself and she didn't know why it worked, only that it did!

Back in the hall, she appeared a second later with her new bat and her Nimbus 2001. She was soon sitting in their car heading out for the long journey towards Kings Cross station.

They pulled up outside the station at half past ten and headed inside. The place was packed with people, running for trains and buses. Christina and her father headed for Platform 9 ¾ and she spotted the red-haired family passing through the barrier. "Hello Arthur, hi Molly." Mr. Molloy said walking over to them. "Nice to see you." Christina walked up to her dad. "Ok, I'm gonna go and get a seat on the train. Bye Dad! I'll miss you, but I'll see you and mom at Christmas! Goodbye Mr. and Ms. Weasley." They said goodbye, giving her a cheery smile and a wave. There was something about the Weasleys that she just loved! They were so cheerful! She hugged her dad, asking him to give her mom a hug for her and ran through the barrier between platform's 9 and 10.

She walked out of the wall that was the barrier and turned to look at the huge train and all the students talking and getting seats. She thought it was amazing, the train was so big and it had that 'Older than time but younger than you' feel about it. It must have had a good bit of magic in it! She saw Fred and George disappearing onto the train and decided she'd better go find a good seat.

She was just getting on the train when she crashed into someone; she always seemed to be doing that! "Oh sorry! I didn't see you there." She said as she turned to see who it was. A very tall guy with cold blue eyes and black hair turned to her and shouted "HEY! Watch where you're going!" She watched him and three others, one guy, two girls walk in after him, all seemingly unaware of what happen a few second before. She climbed on after them muttering to herself, "I said I was sorry."

As she was walking down the train she spotted The Weasleys but she didn't want to annoy them by taking up the little room that was left in their compartment and she went to find another. After settling herself in an empty one somewhere in the middle of the train, she began to wonder what house she would be sorted into. As the train pulled away from the station she changed into her robes. All the while she was still thinking. She had heard all about Hogwarts from her friends. Most of them had had relatives in the school years before, and it sounded like any house but Slytherin was good. Although, she didn't want to judge a house by what other people said about it. She preferred to find out from the people inside the house itself. She was very curious about the ceiling in the great hall, though. From what she heard, it was amazing!

"Excuse me?" A guys voice interrupted her trail of thought. "I wanted to apologise for my earlier behaviour, I was just a bit… angry at something else." It was the guy she had bumped into getting onto the train. "Oh, It's ok. It happens." She said as she went to turn back to the window. But something stopped her. She didn't know what it was but something at the back of her mind told her 'Don't turn away!' 'Maybe it's my moral voice?' She thought. Her parents had brought her up to be as polite as was humanly possible to everyone she talked to, and she had learnt a long time ago that a friendly smile at a stranger can make that person's day. Her mind had often reminded her of these things but it had been a while since she had needed reminding!

The guy walked in followed by his friends. Christina could judge his size now. He was somewhere over six foot, definitely not below, anyway. He outstretched his hand, "You must be new here. I'm Shaun Ryan, Slytherin House." Christina shook his hand and answered, "Christina Molloy, and yes, I'm new here. I'm going into fifth year." There was something un-nerving about the way he began to look at her. She couldn't put her finger on what it was. He just creeped her out. "These are my friends," he continued, "This is Laura Darby," He gestured to a girl about the same size as Christina; she had black hair and pale skin and the same cold eyes as Shaun except they were green. "..And this is Holly McAfee," another tall one, she had short red hair and it was in two plats. Her eyes were blocked from view by a pair of sunglasses, which she wore even thought she was inside. Christina was relieved. If her eyes had been like the other two's, she would have become quite nervous, which is never a good thing. He gestured to the other guy and said, "..And this is-" "Darren" the guy interrupted, "Darren Smith" He grabbed her hand quite hard and kissed it. He again, was tall, had spiked black hair, unusually dark hazel eyes, like her own but he was incredibly good looking! Unfortunately, the company he kept took away from him and he just seemed to add to the freaked out feeling Christina had. Laura glared at Darren behind his back as she went to pull him back to her. But he sat down beside Christina instead, still holding her hand. "Nice to meet you all." Christina said, pulling her hand back from him, with some force, and trying to smile politely. The rest of them sat down and began to talk about how good it would be to have another fifth year Slytherin around. Shaun and Holly would have preferred a new sixth year, like themselves, but they thought 'as long as she's in Slytherin, it doesn't matter'. They tried to ask her questions about why she was only coming to Hogwarts now but she managed to avoid them by asking something else first.

Meanwhile, down at the end of the train, Fred and George were in fits of laughter as Ron stood back up. He had been scared by a huge spider that George had 'accidentally' thrown at him. He yelled and hit the deck as it flew over his head and out the open window. The twins couldn't contain themselves as Hermione and Ginny gave out to them. George couldn't breath and Fred was beating his hand off the window. The laughter continued as they told some new jokes and played a few games of exploding snap. "Hey guys, I'm gonna go take a walk, my legs are falling asleep." Fred said standing up. He walked outside the compartment and closed the door. He had been looking for an excuse to go and look for Christina and he had finally found one. He had seen her just before he passed through the barrier and wanted to go say hi. He kept thinking of the sweet smile she gave him after he introduced himself in Gringots and the hug in the Leaky Cauldron as he proceeded to look in each compartment as he walked up the train.

A few minutes later Christina was DIEING to get out of there. The Slytherins were all talking about how great their parents and brothers had been when they were in Hogwarts. All of them lived miles apart but each had an older brother that was friend with the others and they met through family ties. That was all the useful information Christina managed to get out of them, the rest of the time they were complaining how there were too many muggle-born witches and wizards in the school already. She was getting really creped out by Darren who was sitting too close for comfort. She tried to move away making it seem like she was re-adjusting her robes but he kept moving closer. She needed an excuse to get out of there fast and she couldn't think up one. Not one that would allow her to leave for more than a minute or two anyway, and she wanted to get away from them for the rest of the trip.

Fred walked by another compartment taking a quick glance inside, and still no Christina. He went on to the next one and the next and she wasn't there. He was just passing yet another compartment when he heard the laughter, if you can call it that, of a group of Slytherins. These Slytherins in question were a nasty bunch of people, even by their house standards! He found where the 'laughter' was coming from and his heart skipped a beat when he saw who else was with them. Sitting there by the window, looking like she was trying her best to force a smile, was Christina. She saw him and gave him a pleading look of help and he knew she needed to get out of there. Darren had her hand again and didn't seem to want to let go which made Laura throw the dirtiest looks at Christina. Fred walked forward and said, interrupting Shaun mid-sentence, "Hey Christina! How's it going?" Shaun turned around and glared at Fred. "What do you want, Weasley?" Fred stood in the door way and glared back before saying, "I was saying hi to one of my friends! And actually, Christina" he said turning back to her, "I need to talk to you for a minute." And before any of the others could say anything Christina jumped up, forced Darren's hand of her own and walked out to Fred. She turned to the shocked Slytherins and in a very up-beat voice, told them, "I'll see you all later, ok?" and with out waiting for a reply walked down the train with Fred.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She whispered to Fred giving him a quick hug as they walked further and further away from the Slytherins. He just laughed, "No problem, you looked like you were in a bit of trouble." "Yeah, I was. They all hate muggle-borns and I kept having to avoid questions about my family and stuff. It was so hard! And that Smith guy was really scaring me."

"Aww, well I guess you'll just have to be bored with me and the gang, instead of being scared and avoiding questions. Hope you don't mind!" He laughed as he opened the door to his compartment.

"Hey your back!" George said, looking up from his game of exploding snap. "Long enough walk!" "Shut up! I ran into Christina here." Fred said sitting down and offering her a seat beside him. It was a tight squeeze with all the others in there but she didn't mind being close to Fred. Something about him made her very comfortable when she was around him. She didn't really understand why, but then again, she didn't really care why! After being introduced to Hermione Granger, she sat down, smushed between the wall and Fred as George began to laugh menacingly. "Yes another victim – eh – I mean, player, for Exploding snap. Care for a game?" Christina laughed and jumped at the chance for a game. "Bring it on!" She beat the lot of them every time.

She hadn't had this much fun in years. George had given up exploding snap after being beaten sixteen times and he was onto his infamous jokes. The entire compartment was in hysterical laughter. Christina was finding it harder to breath with every laugh, but she wasn't complaining.

The sky outside had grown ever darker as they headed further and further away from muggle towns. The night sky was so beautiful with all the stars shining like little candles. She loved the night, it was just so mysterious and beautiful that it fascinated her. 'We must be getting close to the Hogwarts castle.' She thought in between jokes. But even as she laughed, a voice kept bugging her. 'You know those names… McAfee, Ryan, Darby, Smith – They are connected… You know they are...' Her mind was wandering, 'how do I know them? Why do I know they're connected…' But her mind answered with three simple words that chilled her to the bone and snapped her back to reality, 'Eight years ago.' She stopped there, not allowing her mind to wander any further. She didn't want to know or remember anything so she paid more attention to the people around her.

As George began a friendly argument about Quidditch with Harry, and Ron was laughing at Hermione about the polyjuice potion incident in their second year and Ginny slept in the corner, Christina and Fred were taking the quite moment to get to know one another better. There was never really an awkward moment between them. They just seemed to click!

The train stopped and everyone got up to leave. As they leapt off the train a loud, booming but somehow welcoming voice called, "Firs' years, This way please! Don' be shy now! Firs' years!" Fred threw his arm in the air and shouted over the noise of the talking students, "Nice to see ya Hagrid!" Hagrid nodded and waved back before disappearing with the first years towards the lake.

Christina got into a carriage along with George, Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Harry. George was about to close the door on Fred, before he grabbed it and jumped in. George couldn't hide his disappointment! It was again a tight squeeze but nobody really minded. As they approached the castle Christina couldn't believe how good it looked against the night sky.

She got out of the carriage once it came to a stop and looked up in awe. The rest of the group began to ascend the steps and she followed, talking about how different Hogwarts was to Beauxbatons. They walked through the entrance hall and she looked around very impressed but also very curious. There was a certain familiarity to this place, a feeling slightly more pronounced than de-ja-vu. She tried to figure out why but a mental wall through her memories stopped her. The wall wasn't a result of an illness or a spell but was self-made. She knew that once she hit that wall she'd snap, once again, to reality, stopping her mind from wondering although she was still curious. They reached the great hall and she stood back in awe. The four huge tables had their respective house banners over them, the ceiling reflecting the starry night sky and on the tables themselves, a huge amount of golden goblets and golden plates. Everything was so shiny and bright. As the others took their seats she stood nervously at the doors. She was unsure of what to do next, so she just stood to the side, allowing the other students to waltz in and take their seats.

Someone grabbed her from behind and pushed her forward, she stumbled but kept her balance and looked behind her. She saw Shaun Ryan and Holly McAfee walking by sniggering, while Laura Darby made a rude hand gesture. Oddly enough though, Darren Smith, who was walking behind Darby, wasn't sniggering with the others but had a hurt look on his face. It made Christina's stomach pang to see him like that, but she didn't know why. She had only just met him after all! She pushed the feeling of anger for the others and the pang in her stomach for Smith out of her mind and looked, for the first time, at the teachers' table. Dumbledore caught her eye and gestured for her to approach the table. She slowly walked up between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables, very aware that people who weren't talking with friends, were staring at her. He stood up as she approached and spoke quietly. "Good Evening, and welcome, Ms. Molloy, to Hogwarts. As you are probably aware, I am Professor Dumbledore, headmaster of the school. I would ask you to sit over there," He pointed to a lonely looking, old wooden chair against the wall. "While the first years are sorted into their houses, then I will call on you to be sorted as well." She nodded to show she understood and went to sit on the chair. The hall was now very full and no more students were coming through the doors.

A few minutes later, the first years entered the hall led by a tall, strict-looking teacher. They all looked terrified and she knew exactly how they felt. Throughout the hall, the talking had stopped. Everyone was focused on the new arrivals. The teacher walked across the hall and took a small stool and an old hat back to the middle of the platform. She looked from Professor Dumbledore back to the students and spoke, her voice as clear as a bell through the silenced hall.

"I am Professor McGonagall When I call your name, please sit on the stool and I will place the sorting hat on your head so you can be sorted." She looked at a long piece of parchment in her right hand and called, "Avalanche, Stewart." A tiny, mousy haired boy, stumbled forward and sat down on the stool. The colour drained from his face in the second before McGonnigal placed the hat on his head. He sat there, looking terrified until about a minute later when the hat yelled, "_RAVENCLAW_!" The table under the blue banner with a raven on it and the name 'Ravenclaw' written under it cheered and Avalanche ran to join them looking quite relieved.

She felt if she watched any more of those little terrified faced she'd be too nervous to do it herself so she looked at the floor as another name was called out.

"Blossom, Karen." There was a wait of about 30 seconds before…

"_SLYTHERIN_!"

"Brady, Ciaran."

"_HUFFLEPUFF!"_

"Brady, Crystal."

"_HUFFLEPUFF!"_

"Brady, David."

"HUFFLEPUFF" 

Christina thought it odd that the three Brady's were in the same house and glanced towards the yellow bannered table with the name 'Hufflepuff' written over it. The three new students were settling themselves at it. They all had blond hair; the boys had it short and clean-cut while the girl's fell just below her shoulders. They were all good looking and though they were as different looking as any other brother or sister, they all had a tiny castle shaped birthmark below their left eyes. 'Three castles… Hmmm… how strange…' She thought.

The sorting continued for about ten minutes but she only really paid attention to the house names_, "HUFFLEPUFF… RAVENCLAW… GRYFFINDOR… SLYTHERIN… SLYTHERIN… HUFFLEPUFF… GRYFFINDOR… HUFFLEPUFF…RAVENCLAW… HUFFLEPUFF… GRYFFINDOR… SLYTHERIN… GRYFFINDOR… HUFFLEPUFF…"_ 'Hmmmm, that house seems to get a lot of students.' she thought as "Mullen, Eugene." Was sorted into Gryffindor. She looked down the tables at all the new faces and when she was scanning the Slytherin table, someone caught her eye. It wasn't any of the gang on the train, however he was sitting beside them. He had slick backed, white-blond hair and looked like he might be in fourth year. She didn't notice the way he was looking at her but she did notice that he was quite handsome. Well, except for his eyes, they looked dark and evil. 'What's with all the good-looking students?… Guess this school has a 'film like' student population.' She thought. As she took her eyes off him and scanned the Ravenclaw table and he went back talking to Smith in whispers.

The last table she looked at was Gryffindor. She instantly saw The Weasleys and one of the twins flashed her a smile. She smiled back before he turned to clap for "Trimmer, Alison" who joined the Gryffindor table. Finally there was only one small first year left. She approached the hat, confidently flicking her dark hair over her shoulder, after her name ("Walsh, Kimberly.") was called. The hat had barley touched her head when it shouted "SLYTHERIN" and she joined their table.

Dumbledore rose out of his seat and the hall fell back to silence, all eyes on him as he spoke. "This year, we are lucky enough to receive a new fifth year student. She is moving her from Beauxbatons Academy. I trust you will treat her with as much respect as you treat myself. May I introduce, Miss Christina Molloy." She stood up as all the eyes in the room turned to her. She walked to the stool and sat down as the hat was placed on her head. She didn't know what to expect and jumped when the hat began to whisper in her ear. "Hmmmmm…. Now you're a difficult one. Plenty of inelegance I see, but perhaps that is from your pervious four years at school… Lets see… You are willing to do almost anything to get what you want… Maybe Slytherin?… No, you have heart in all you decisions, a good moral sense I see as well… No not Slytherin for you… But where? Where shall you go?… Difficult, hmmm… right, you show courage… perhaps enough? Yes, yes – that's the one for you… _GRYFFINDOR_!"

The table under the Gryffindor banner cheered and she went over to join them. The twins flashed her huge grins as she sat down and she laughed. 'They are such a smile-y family! I think they'll be good friends.' "Now," Dumbledore said standing back up, "I have a few start of term notices. Please note that the dark forest is strictly forbidden to all students, as some of our sixth years should know by now," He smiled in the direction of Fred and George. "And our caretaker, Mr. Filtch, has reminded me to tell all first year students that the current count on the forbidden items list is Four hundred and fifty-two and can be viewed in Mr. Filtch's office during break times. Now, lets eat! " And just as he sat back down, the plates over all the tables filled to capacity with delicious looking and smelling food.

Christina stood up, completely and utterly full of food. But she didn't know what to do now. The muddle of students exiting the hall was tremendous and she was sure to follow the wrong crowd! George saw the look of confusion and worry on her face and grabbed her arm. "You can come with us, if you like." She was grateful for the help. They walked along together with Fred and Lee Jordan trailing behind a bit, talking in whispers. George pointed out trick steps, secret passageways and a few paintings that would cheer her up if she were lonely. A couple of them spoke in whispers before giving her a hearty 'Bonjour!', which made her smile.

"You do realize I was just being polite?" George said out of the blue. "Que? – I mean, what?" She said, slightly embarrassed by the automatic use of French. George laughed quietly and responded to her thoroughly confused look. "Letting you beat me at Exploding snap. I was just being polite!" She suppressed a giggle and said, "Of course you were!" as a grin spread on her face. They came to a place with hundreds of staircases that made what you could call a 3D maze! "Oh, and keep an eye on the staircases, they like to change and you can get lost very easily!" George added, looking at her astonished face. She didn't really believe him until the staircase they were half-way up suddenly jerked and began to move to another side of the hall. She fell slightly backwards but was caught by Fred. She stood there as the staircase continued it's journey, Fred's arms wrapped around her and she was looking into his eyes. "Thanks." She said sweetly after it had stopped moving. "Don't mention it!" He replied, letting her go as they headed on further. Himself and Lee almost instantly began whispering again as she caught up with George, but she didn't notice.

They reached the tower without any more problems and George spoke to a painting of a quite pretty (Christina thought), fat lady. "Password's 'pumpkin juice'" He said both to the portrate and to Christina. "Cool…" She whispered as the fat lady swung open to reaveal the whole to the common room. The four Gryffindors walked inside and headed for a now fully crackling fire. George, Lee and Fred sat on the last three single seaters and because there was no other seats, single or other, left Christina sat on the nearest arm rest, which turned out to be Fred's. They just chatted for a few minutes until a fight broke out on the other side on the common-room, a sixth year name Mark Godwin and a seventh year named Cathy McFadden were arguing over a comment made by one of their friends. The comment itself had been long forgotten and they were now just throwing insults at each other. Mark made a very snide comment about Cathy's heritage and there was a sudden hush in the room followed quickly by a smack sound.

The side of Mark's face turned pink and Cathy glared at him. Through the silence a whispering voice was heard, "I'm sorry…" It was Cathy. "Mark, I didn't mean to… I'm sorry…" He took her into a friendly hug and she smiled. "It's ok, Cat. I believe you. I didn't mean to insult you." He whispered back. Suddenly a loud voice came out of the corner of the room. "Hey Godwin! Get you paws of my girlfriend!" A seventh year, who Fred said was Brian McGreggor, stormed across the room and launched himself into the hugging friends and knocked them clean over. That wasn't as bad as it could have been but whatever way the students had been standing, they began to knock over like a set of dominios. They were falling so quick, that Christina didn't have time to jump off the arm-rest and out of the way and was knocked over onto Fred before she knew what was happening.

Fred and Christina froze and looked at each other. She had landed on his lap and the only one who had seemed to notice aside from Fred was Lee. Everyone else was either laughing or picking themselves up after the amazing human domino effect. Christina finally realised how stupid she must have looked and rolled herself off Fred. "Sorry." She whispered, quite embarresed by what had just happened. Fred jumped up after her and mumbled, "It's ok." Before heading quickly for his dorm, followed by Lee. Christina sat down on his vacant chair thinking of what to do next.

George walked over and sat in front of Christina. "Hey, did you see where Fred and Lee disappeared to?" She pointed in the direction of the boys dormitorys and answered, "yeah, they went over there somewhere. Erm…I'm pretty tired, where's the girls dormitory?" George stood up and pointed to where the girls dormitorys were. "It's the fifth floor." She smiled and stood up. "Thanks, goodnight!" George wished her goodnight as well and watched her assend the stairs to make sure she got there ok.

Once she was upstairs, George went to find which dorm Lee and Fred had disappeared into. He found them up in their own dormitory and once making sure nobody else was there spoke. "Hey, what were you too whispering about? You left me to show her to her room alone, not that I'm complaining but… well I was wondering…What was so secretive?" Fred thought about it for a second and decided to tell his brother. "Well… I started to tell Lee about Christina and how we know her. And -" " - And," Lee intrupted, "I noticed how Fred, here," He thumbed at him, "kept looking at her." He turned to Fred. "It's so obvious dude! Especially the way you talk about her!" Fred went red and seeing this George burst out laughing. "Well, well… You finally have a crush on someone who doesn't want to rip your head off! Hey look on the bright side! At least she's cuter than that Slytherin one last time, what was her name? Mc-something?" George said, sitting down on the floor in between the other two

"McAfee." Fred said quietly. He wasn't proud of the crush he had on her in third year, and she wasn't the biggest fan of it either. Since then she had made every incounter with her an unpleasant one.

"Yeah, well anyway, did you see her fall on the staircase?" Lee asked turning back to George. "No... But she couldn't have fallen, I was just in front of her."

"Yeah, well," Lee continued, " She only fell a little bit before Fred caught her. Man, you should'a seen the way she was looking at him. I don't think he wanted to let go after the stairs stopped!" George glanced at Fred who was a deep scarlet now and was about to say something but Lee continued. "Yeah and when Godwin and McFadden started the fight and McGreggor launched into the domino effect she got knocked and landed on Fred's lap. They just looked at each other before getting all embarresed and jumping up." George's face split into a grin. "Fred, Fred, Fred! You know what you have to do now, don't you?"

"What?" Fred said, his face still scarlet.

"Ask her out, Bro! Come on, you know you want to!"

"I.-I cant!" He answered turning his back on the other two. "Well if you cant ask her out I suggest you at LEAST talk to her!"

"I'll Try."

Christina walked into her new dorm. The five other girls in the room turned and smiled to greet her. "Hi!" said the first one. "My name's Alicia, Alicia Spinet." She pointed to the other girls in turn. "And this is Sarah Chilli, Caroline Moss, Karen Stone and Clair Bemmet." Christina walked across to the only free bed in the dorm. "Nice to meet you, I'm Christina Molloy, but my friends usually call me Krissy." The girls talked and tried to make Christina feel welcome. They all remembered how hard it was for them in first year and it had to be extremely hard to move into a school in fifth year, not knowing anyone.

Christina searched through her trunk for her pj's, placing her bat and broom under her bed as she found them. She changed quickly so as she wouldn't have to make conversation with any of the girls, she was way too shy and tired to try and talk to any of them. As she was throwing her robes back into her open trunk, she saw the corner of a picture frame. She dug it out, smiling as she saw whom it was of. Herself, and her parents shone up at her from the sunny garden picture. She turned it over and opened the back to reveal another, smaller picture. This one was of her and three guys, sitting around a set of drums with sheet music and bits of balled up parchment lying on the ground. She smiled to herself and closed the frame back up before placing the family picture on her locker. She got into bed, dreading the long day tomorrow of getting lost and having piles of homework. She had a feeling that although Hogwarts was different to Beauxbatons in _many_ ways, it still would have the HUGE emphases placed on O.W.L.s, and she wasn't looking forward to that at all!

As she drifted into a light sleep, the other girls in the dorm headed for bed themselves, as did the rest of the tower. The entire school felt as if the magic, that had been dormant over the holidays, was beginning to grow again, with every sleeping breath of every student. The happy dreams of the summer past and the nightmares of the year ahead kept the students minds busy till well into the early hours of the morning when their bodies began to crave the flavour of food and they began to awake from their dreams.

The next morning, Christina awoke earlier than anyone else. She changed into her school robes and walked over to the mirror to brush her hair. She tied it into a plat and left the dorm without waking anyone. She walked down to the common room and spotted the Weasley twins talking quietly over a piece of parchment. As she walked past, she caught their attention and smiled sweetly saying, "Good Morning!" before leaving through the portrait

"Anyway, as I was saying… Fred? Hey, earth to Fred!" George snapped his fingers in Fred's face, which had turned as Christina walked across the room and was still facing the portrait. "Hu? What?" He responded dozily, turning back to his brother. George laughed, "Just_ talk _to her!" Fred's ears went red. "What are you talking about?" George laughed harder. "Man, Lee was right about you!" Fred tried to think of a come back but all he could muster was, "Cut it out!"

Christina remembered the path she and the guys had taken the night before and soon found herself in the magnificent great hall. She took a place at the Gryffindor table and pored herself some cereal. Slowly more people began to arrive. Most people by themselves but as the time slowly crept by, they began to arrive in bigger groups. Although a lot of Gryffindors were sitting having breakfast, Christina still was sitting alone at the end of the table, three seats in between her and anyone else, when the post owls arrived. She watched the owls soar through the hall dropping onto tables to hand over letters and packages. It was so different to see the owls at breakfast, because usually at Beauxbatons, their mail would be delivered right to their dorm while they were in morning class. Suddenly, a large, beautiful hawk owl landed in front of her, causing her to jump. She had never seen it before and knew of no one who had spoken of getting a new owl, so naturally she was curious about the letter it carried in its mouth. She ripped open the envelope as the owl drank the last of her juice. Christina pulled out the parchment and new in an instant who it belonged to. Nobody else ever used sky blue ink!

Hey Krissy! 

_Hope you get this, we didn't really know the proper address so we made one up! Everyone is great! Gill, Amy and Suzanne say hi and unless I'm mistaken, so do Charlie, Jack and, of course, Kyle! They all look as good as you would probably remember but they are missing their lead guitarist! We know that you still don't have an owl so this is a present from all of us. She's called Electra_ _(it means 'brilliant light) and she's super fast so there's no excuse for you to not write back quickly! I hope you're well and are having a good time. Tell us what house you in and any news! Hope you like the owl!_

_Lots of Love,_

_Meg! _

Christina couldn't believe it. Electra was such a beautiful owl. How had they afforded her? She began to think of a way to thank them as she petted her new owl. Electra hooted thankfully and flew off for a well-deserved rest in the owlery.

Christina's attention was brought back to school when Professor McGonnagal placed a timetable in front of her.

She scanned the list of classes and re-read Mondays. "Double Charms, Herbology, Defence against the Dark Arts, _lunch (woo hoo!),_ history of magic, astronomy and double potions." She read aloud, before someone spoke from across the table. "Wow, we gota tough second half!" Christina looked up to see Sarah Chilli, now standing, opposite. "Yeah, tell me about it. You guys don't have Gym here?" Sarah looked questionably at Christina. "Its where you play quidditch, basketball, baseball, volley-ball, soccer, ice hockey…? You _do_ know what they are, right?" Sarah shook her head. "Nope! Only one I know of is Quidditch. You coming to class?" Christina stood up and walked with Sarah towards the charms room, glad she wasn't going to be lost for the first half of the day anyway! Sarah continued to question her about the sports and this whole 'gym' class thing. "So why is it a class?" Sarah said as they took some seats towards the back of the Charms room. "It helps relieve the stress of school, if only for an hour, and it keep all the students fit. Otherwise nobody'd get any exercise!" Professor Flitwick entered the room and the girls put their conversation on hold till later.

Okay, I'll just call the roll before we get started! Ms. Bemmet?"

"Here!"

"Mr. Black"

"Yep!"

"Ms. Chilli?"

"Uh-hu!" And the names continued. Christina wasn't really paying full attention while she got her wand, her parchment and her quill out of her bag. "Eh.. Ms. Molloy?"

"Présent, monsieur." She replied back, automatically.

It took a minute for it to register in Christina's head of what she actually said. She looked up from her bag, only to see the entire class staring at her. She turned red, and said timidly, "Erm… I mean.. Here, sir." Flitwick chuckled to himself. "That's quite all right dear. Now where were we…. Mr. Murray?"

The class slowly went back to normal as the professor continued calling the role. When he had finished, he explained he would be going over _every_ single charm that they had done since first year and a few new ones until Christmas. And then he would discus the written examination.

They messed with levitation charms and disarming charms, summoning and repelling, and as a last minute addition, the tickling charm. Everyone was laughing off the effects when walking to Herbology, and seemed to have forgotten the little slip of French Christina had at the beginning of the class. It was a great relief when Professor Sprout allowed them to leave class early due to some _very _pungent dragon dung she had found and was using on the Venus flytraps. The class headed back to their towers so as to shower before heading to defence against the dark arts.

The over excited class sat in their seats waiting for their new teacher. But Professor Hooch entered the classroom instead. "You're teacher isn't in, take out some work and keep the racket DOWN!" She was obviously annoyed about something and taking it out on teenagers is the best way to relieve your stress, or didn't you already know that? Christina decided to write a letter to her friend Sandra and glanced around the room, wanting something to write about. Her eyes stopped on a Mr. Smith. He was looking at her and once their eyes met, he smiled. Christina smiled back but looked away quickly, sensing a chill going down her back. She began to write, but kept glancing sideward, so as to throw an eye to the back of the classroom, to see if he was still watching. He was. It was a piercing look and the bell couldn't ring soon enough. When it _finally _did, she jumped up and ran to lunch. She was again eating alone. She would have sat with the girls in her dorm but they were all laughing about something and she felt to shy to interrupt them. Lunch was as un-interesting as any other lunch and she soon found her way to History of Magic. She was getting better at this 'not getting lost' thing that usually accompanied her everywhere she went. Bad direction was her chosen gift and it had its advantages. For instance, she met her friend Jack, in Beauxbatons because she got lost! It had served her well!

Once she took her seat in Professor Binns Classroom, he walked through the wall and began to talk about giants or something. Christina didn't really remember. Her attention span lasted a whole two seconds before she became interested in the notes scribbled and carved into her desk. Forty-five dull, dry minutes later, she was following the crowd to the Astronomy tower. Hogwarts was tremendously large and the corridors all looked the same but different, it was so odd. Christina thought it was kind of cool. 'Every turn brings a new surprise' She thought.

Astronomy was _incredibly _interesting from Christina's point of view. Space fascinated her, but nobody seemed to share her enthusiasm.

Professor Sinistra spent the class, as most teachers did that day, by lecturing them on O.W.L. procedures for that particular subject. When the bell rang, the Gryffindors in the class (all except for Christina) moaned and groaned about have _double _potions with Snape and the Slytherins! "Why's everyone so glum?" Christina asked Colm Murphy, a red-haired Ravenclaw, as they were heading down the stairs of the astronomy tower. "Well, it's just you Gryffindors. You guys have Potions now with the Slytherins!" She hadn't a clue why that was _so _bad but responded, "Ah, I see." Before following the rest of her house towards the dungeons.

They went down and down, stair after stair, everything getting glummer and darker the farther they went. When they finally sat down in the classroom, they chatted quietly amongst themselves until the door swung open. A deadly silence filled the room and nobody dared turn to see who had entered. They knew who it was. A deep, dark, smirking voice came from behind them as the door was slammed shut. "Ah, I see we are learning! Very good! NOW, listen up." Professor Snape walked to the front of the classroom and glared at the class with powerful, evil eyes. "I'm telling you now that I only accept the _highest_ of standards, in other words; ONLY 'O' in O.W.L.s, into my N.E.W.T. classes so start studying NOW!" His eyes landed on Christina and the side of his mouth twitched in an effort to smile. "Ah, Ms. Molloy. I was wondering when I would meet you! Tell me, who was your old potions master?" Christina responded quietly, "eh, Madam Gill, sir." He looked strangely at her. "Madam Gill? Well, I'll be expecting a _lot_ from you! Now," He addressed the rest of the class, "Today's potion is written on the board. AH, and before you do anything else, _I _shall pair you up!

He walked around the classroom pairing Slytherins with Gryffindors and when he got to Christina's row, he laughed to himself. "Ms. Molloy, I think I shall pair you with someone who had experience in my lab. Mr. Smith?" Darren Smith stood up and answered, "Yes, sir?" "Make sure you teach Ms. Molloy wrong from right in this class" Snape made this last comment, without taking his eyes off Christina's. He was scary. Now, lets see how well you all remember…Begin!"

That double class was HORRIBLE! Christina was so nervous about Professor Snape that she kept making mistakes. At one point, Smith grabbed her wrist, as she was about to put a wrong ingredient in the cauldron. His grip was incredibly strong, and she looked up at him. "Sorry about that." "No problem" He whispered back. "Erm, can you let my wrist go, please?" He let go reluctantly and they continued with the potion. In the end, their potion was actually pretty good but Christina felt exhausted after trying for two whole classes to keep her eyes on the ingredients and not the cute, but scary, guy beside her.

After double potions, Christina headed out towards the lake so as to enjoy the warm weather while it still was there. She stopped about 5 feet from the shore where a great oak tree stood, glowing in the evening sunlight. She sat down and leaned against the tree, watching the lake glisten. It was sparkling like the one back at her old school, and it looked alive like the ocean, close to her home in Ireland. The shimmer-y water and the sound of the lapping waves were comforting and soon she was dosing off, the sun smiling down on her face.

_She was walking down a flight of stairs, and they were covered in deep, rich, red velvet carpet. She got to the bottom and was ushered into a room by a teenage guy, wearing a tux. The room was just as luxurious as the stairwell and had many couches against the length of the wall, leading to another door marked 'Artists and Crew Only!' _

"_Are you ready? You have about two minutes till you're on! I'll be watching from the center of the second row, break a leg!" Christina was seriously confused. Who was this guy? What was going on? What was happening in two minutes? She tried to question him but he merely kissed her on the forehead before running out the door they entered through. She went to sit down but caught her reflection in the one mirror hidden at the end of the room. She moved closer to it and removed the white sheet, half covering it, and for the first time noticed how she was dressed. She was wearing black sandal style heals, fish net tights, a black tassel dress (also called a 'Jazz Dress') from the 1930's or 1940's, barely black sleeves that started just above her elbow and hooked around her middle finger, and her hair was now just down to below her earlobes. She couldn't believe it. What was going on? Suddenly a girl in a black t-shirt and jeans, wearing a headset and carrying a clipboard burst into the room from the 'Artist and Crew Only' door, grabbed Christina's arm and dragged her through the door. They were now looking from the wings at a stage alive with a jazz music band. However, they didn't stay there long. The girl dragged Christina past the wings to behind and below the stage where she put her onto a tiny platform and told a guy behind her, standing in the shadows to wait for the cue and lift her faster than last night. Christina was still really confused but had the idea that she was about to hit the stage! She began to panic but there was no time for that, as the platform began to rise up._

_Instinct took over, and she put her head down and her arms slightly out from her side. A light shone down from above and she listened intently to the music. Instinct still in control, she began to sing and snapped her head up._

"_Come on babe, why don't we paint the town." She batted her eyelids to the beat._

"_And all that Jazz.." She sung, danced and acted with expert timing and everything was going great until the guy she was dancing with, stopped suddenly… Everything went black, the music stopped and she felt something tightening around her neck, constricting her breathing. She heard a hissing sound and she saw creepy yellow eyes appear out of nowhere. The eyes magically lit the rest of the creature and Christina tried to scream when she saw it was a snake, but no luck, her air was running out but that was the least of her worries. The snake had a friend, who was slithering up her leg, around her stomach and finally came face to face with her. It hissed in a mocking way before lunging for her face, fangs poised. And just as it was about to strike, she jumped awake._

Her eyes snapped open to darkness, then the cold hit her. It took a minute to realize she had actually fallen asleep. She stood up beside the now haunting looking oak tree and wrapping her robes tighter around her, she headed quickly for the castle, wondering how much time had passed.

She walked briskly across the grounds, pulling her robes tighter still as the freezing wind blew, slowing her as she tried to press against the oncoming gale. She walked through the huge castle doors only to find Professor Snape coming out of the dungeons. "Ms. Molloy? Where are you coming from at this late hour?" She answered the first thing that came to her head. "I was just doing a little extra research for Astronomy." He looked strangely at her. "Outside? Could you not look from a window in your dormitory or perhaps a window in a corridor?" She began to head for the stairs, slowly, while answering, "I wanted to be able to get a clear view without traipsing through the castle every time I wanted to check a different constellations." She could see he wanted to enquire more so she quickly added. "Good night to you, Professor." He looked annoyed but replied "Good night" as he watched her ascend the stairs.

'That would have been so embarrassing if I had to tell him I feel asleep, I would have _never_ heard the end of it!' She thought as she walked through the halls towards the Gryffindor common room. She gave the password and stepped inside to find the room deserted of its usual 4th, 5th and 6th year groups that took over the chairs near the fire every night. 'Hmmm, I wonder where they are?' she thought as she glanced at the clock, '8:30? They're probably somewhere around the castle.' She walked up to her dorm and changed into a pair of comfy tracksuit bottoms and a string top. She lay on her bed and for the first time since she was outside, thought about her dream. There was a huge possibility that it was just a random dream but it still bugged her. "I need to relax!" She said aloud. Then she had an idea. She hopped out of the dorm and looked over the banisters to the common room. "Hmmm…. No, nowhere there." Then she walked up the stairs towards the other dorms. She passed the 6th years dorm and kept going, then she passed the 7th years dorm and to her surprise, the stairs kept moving upwards. She followed it up till she came to a small little space big enough to sit four people, but still tiny enough. It was like the other landings but it had no room leading off it. There was, of course, a window. But unlike the other ones, it was like a bay window, and you could see so well from it. "This is it!" she said aloud and ran back towards her dorm.

She rooted around in her trunk for her frosty blue notepad and her light blue quill and ink. It took a while, but she found them. She took them, her guitar and the photo on her locker up to the 8th landing and got comfortable.

She pulled out her guitar and set the case aside. After opening her frosty blue notepad and setting the quill ready to write she opened the back of the 'family photo' frame and took out the picture of her and the three guys, sitting around a set of drums with sheet music and bits of balled up parchment lying on the ground. She laughed to herself about the good times she had had with these three guys. She thought about them for a second and then began to play her guitar. It took a few minutes before she found the chords she liked and a few minutes more till she found a good way to play them. "Okay, Quill, write!" She played the chords the way she liked them and then stopped. The quill had written the notes in order across the blank page, which was half manuscript and half normal rule. "Quill, write only words now." She began playing again but she put words to it this time;

"_What would I do?_

_Lonely as you_

_Pleasure or pain_

_I can't choose_

_What would I do?_

_Lonely as you_

_Pleasure or pain_

_I can't choose_

_Wake up_

_You're dreaming_

_I can't stand your screaming_

_Drowning out these prayers_

_Just some words without meaning_

_Spare all the preaching_

_My secrets worth keeping_

_No one understands like I do_

_Keep out of reach – "_

Suddenly she heard voices downstairs, she stopped instantly and peeped over the banisters. The 4th, 5th and 6th year group were coming back through the portrait hole and talking loudly but they stopped all of a sudden and didn't say a word or move a muscle. 'Did they hear me?' She thought, frightened, although she didn't know why she was scared.

The group stayed silent for another minute, and Christina had her back pressed against the wall, eyes shut, hoping they hadn't heard her before someone in the group laughed. 'Must have been my imagination! Sorry guys!' And they all went to their respective dorms. Christina waited till they were all out of earshot before she relaxed. She knew that the doors to the dorms were pretty thick and that if she played quietly, they wouldn't hear her. So she set the quill to write the words again and sung;

"_Keep out of reach_

_I'm your leading deletion_

_Hide behind these masks_

_Though they still see_

_Right through them_

_Every now and then_

_You're down and out my friend_

_Down and out again_

_Down and out again_

_Down and out again_

_But I'm down with you_

_One more time for the last time_

_One more time for release_

_One more time for the last time_

_Everyone wants to believe_

_Blame it on youth_

_All these years_

_I've been losing_

_Blame it on the past_

_It's the last place I knew you._

_Blame all the children _

_They're raging and ruined_

_Blame it on the black and the blue_

_Every now and then_

_You're down and out my friend_

_Down and out again_

_Down and out again_

_Down and out again_

_But I'm down with you_

_One more time for the last time_

_One more time for release_

_One more time for the last time_

_Everyone wants to believe_

_Every now and then_

_You're down and out my friend_

_Down and out again_

_Down and out again_

_Down and out again_

_But I'm down with you_

_One more time for the last time_

_One more time for release_

_One more time for the last time_

_Everyone wants to believe_

_One more time for the last time_

_One more time for release_

_One more time for the last time_

_Everyone wants to believe_

_One more time for the last time_

_One more time for release_

_One more time for the very last time_

_Everyone wants to believe_

_All right"_

_'Lonely as you' By the Foo Fighters_

She put the quill to one side and read the results. Liking what she saw, she packed up her stuff and tiptoed down to her dorm. She pressed her ear on the door only to hear snoring. 'Good, there're asleep!' Sneaking inside and putting her guitar and picture away, she was about to go to bed but changed her mind as the thought of her blue notebook popped into her head. She went to her trunk and pulled out an envelope, a quill, some ink and some parchment. She wrote on the envelope;

_Kyle O'Brien_

_Fifth floor,_

_Boys' dormitory,_

_Beauxbatons Academy._

And then setting the parchment on the hard of her trunk, wrote a letter she wanted to write all summer.

_Hey you!_

_How have you been? I can't write much tonight because I really have to get to bed soon but I thought I'd write tonight so you have some mail after morning classes. Oh, and before I forget, tell the gang I said hi! And thank you very much for the owl. She's beautiful!_

_Do you remember the song I was working on last term? Well, I finally finished it tonight. I had to start it over because the beginning was bugging me but it's good now! Tell me if you think it'll work, and try adding some bass and drums? It would be so cool if you could! Sorry my letter is so short! Write back soon! Miss you!_

_Love you lots, like jelly tots!_

_Christina_

She tore the song and its notes out of her notebook and put them, along with the letter into the envelope and sealed it before going over to the window. She opened it and whistled quietly, again and again. There was a stir in the black-y landscape and Electra flew in the window. Christina smiled, as Meg had obviously trained her before sending her. Good ol' Meg! She gave the letter to Electra and whispered. "As fast as you can, ok?" The owl hooted softly and flew back out the window, towards Beauxbatons. Christina sneaked back into bed and drew the curtains, happy she had finished the song and happy she had finally sent something to Kyle. She soon drifted off to sleep, content and happy that her friends hadn't forgotten about her.

She awoke the next morning, feeling refreshed and ready to tackle anything that the teachers were going to throw at them. Which turned out to be a _lot _of homework to prepare them for their O.W.L.s.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 **The Band**

The sound of laughter from the Gryffindor common-room was as clear as a bell up in the girls' dormitory. They were having an unplanned contest – Who can make the most people laugh – There had been songs and limericks but at that particular moment, Fred and George Weasley were telling the group some new jokes, which most likely meant that not a single person would be sitting. They would all be on the ground, rolling with laughter and struggling to breath!

Christina had finally finished writing back to her best muggle friend, Sandra Moffatt, saying what she had said to most her other friends. She thought that Hogwarts wasn't that different from Beauxbatons as she was still separated from her best friend in the world. But she was having trouble adjusting to the new school and the way things were run and she couldn't seem to bring herself to talk with anyone in her classes for more than a minute or two. So she was again, for the fifth night, in her room alone, playing around with her deep red magical semi-acoustic guitar (it took on either the form of a full electric or full acoustic when played.) while the rest of her house laughed away downstairs.

Suddenly, there was a flash of purple light and she looked round for the source. To her utmost surprise, there in the middle of her dorm, was her old headmistress! "Ms. Maxime! Oh my god! How did you get here? And what are you doing here? And why…..why do you look fuzzy like a bad T.V. reception?" Christina said excitedly as she crossed over to her favourite staff member of her old school. Ms. Maxime looked happy to see her but not confused about her questions. "Listen, C'ristina, dear. I 'ave been talking to Dumbledorre about your progress and your doing fine in your studies but 'e says you seem to spend most of your free time in your dorm. Why are you not down talking-" A Loud laugh, that unmistakeably belonged to Fred broke into her sentence from downstairs. But she continued on,"- or indeed, laughing, with ze rest of your 'ouse?" Christina looked at Ms. Maxime wondering how Dumbledore knew, but when she talked, she looked at her feet. "I'm not as comfortable talking with people at this school as I was at Beauxbatons. I always feel…awkward around them. Its not their fault, I just can't get comfortable. And I miss my friends so much…"

Ms. Maxime looked at Christina, and smiled knowing that what she was about to say would cheer her up so much. "C'ristina, my dear, Dumbledorre and I 'ave been disguising zis fact and 'ave decided zat since you 'ave been so good at keeping up wiz your studies and 'aven't been in any trouble…yet…" Ms. Maxime laughed to herself but continued, "We 'ave bent ze rules a bit and are allowing zree students 'ere to visit you in ze manor I am doing now. Some new fangled muggle 'ologram program zat has been bewitched, zat's probably why I look, as you so colourfully put it, 'Fuzzy'! Anyway, I picked ze students myself and zey'll be 'ere in a minute or so. I'll write to you later, dear. Enjoy yourself and don't forget to zank Dumbledorre!" Christina waved goodbye as the purple light, once again, filled the room. She was ecstatic, and tried to think whom Ms. Maxime had picked. But she didn't have to wait long to find out!

"Krissy? Girl, you haven't changed a bit! You still look so good!" She turned to see that it was Kyle, her best buddy in school. He was a very handsome boy the same age as Christina. Although she went to a French speaking school, she found she wasn't the only English speaking person there. Kyle had sandy blond hair and glistening green eyes. He, like her, could speak French fluently, but he had a typical Glasgow accent when he wasn't. She smiled brightly at him and said 'matter of factly' but without a serious tone in her voice, "Well, you know, I wear the same clothes as I wore back in Beauxbatons so that I can still make people stair when I walk down a corridor. Even if I have to do it by myself this time!" Christina had the whole 'Rocker' image, when she wasn't in her uniform, of course, and a lot of the school thought that it was kind of weird as most of them were of wizard decent!

Kyle smiled and said, "Hey, Krissy, see you still have your guitar…fancy a jam?" She jumped for joy and ran over to grab her guitar. She bewitched an amp to work and plugged in. "But there is only two of us, we need a good beat-"

"Ah, say no more," he turned and muttered to someone behind him. The room filled once again with purple and when Christina looked back, there were two more guys along with a set of drums, a bass guitar, Kyle's deep blue magical semi-acoustic guitar and a microphone, which stood in front of Christina.

She couldn't believe it. Her band was standing in front of her eyes like she was back in the practise hall of Beauxbatons. The guy on her left had tan skin like her herself, but had strawberry blond-brown short hair. He flashed her his usual grin showing off his perfectly sparkling teeth.

The other guy to her right was the tallest of them all (which made him a good candidate for the bass guitar) He had black hair to just below his ears and through the long hair now sprawled down over his face, she spotted his familiar twinkling brown eyes. "Jack? Charlie? I can't believe you set this up! You guys rock!"

"Yeah, well, we'll see about that. Jack, take the drums and Charlie, take the bass and lets get started" Christina thought for a second and said, "Guys, do you remember the last song we did at the Halloween ball last year? Can we do it now! Please?" The guys all laughed about how Christina thought she had to plead with them to get them to play. Kyle looked at Jack and he started the count in.

Down in the common-room the laughter began to subside. But it didn't last for long. George stood up to get a drink and tripped over Fred who was still on the ground. He hit the floor hard, but burst into hysterical laughter a second later along with everyone else. Fred stood up and told everyone to stop laughing and be quiet for a minute. They did as they were told, but with much difficulty. Then they realised why he had asked them to. There was a sound of an electric guitar coming from somewhere in the tower. Intrigued by the mysterious music, the group stood up to try and locate the sound, which became easier when a voice was heard singing, muffled as it was, Fred recognised it. "Hey guys, isn't that Christina singing?" The rest didn't really know if it was but followed Fred anyway and headed for her dorm.

Fred creaked open the door a tiny bit so they could hear the song clearer. The group sat on the steps listening for a minute until a crash made them all jump, and the music stopped. Then a guys voice was heard from inside. "Sorry guys…I guess I hit the cymbals a bit hard…" "Ya think?" Came Christina's voice, full of laughter.

"Ok, ok.." came another guys voice, "Christina, why don't we take it from the top?"

"Sounds good… Ok, Jack, if you think that set of yours can take some more pounding, count us in"

The Gryfindors outside the door were confused on who she was talking to…they all listen really close to see if they could hear more. But the sudden sound of an electric guitar on full volume made them jump again but this time, Fred hit the door which opened wide and let him fall. Christina didn't notice as she wasn't really looking at the door and she continued to play the main line of music as Kyle played the rhythm behind it. The Gryfindors decided to sit down along the wall and watch in amazement as their newest student played the opening chords of a song with three guys who looked….fuzzy! Everything was going great and then things got a whole lot better when Christina stepped up to the microphone to sing;

"_I want you to want me,_

_I need you to need me,_

_I love you to love me,_

_I'm begging you to beg me_

_I want you to want me,_

_I need you to need me,_

_I love you to love me"_

'Wow! She is such a good singer! And she's still pretty cute even out of robes. Wonder why she hasn't been down in the common-room the last couple of days.' Fred thought as he looked on in amazement.

"_Shine up my old black shoes_

_I put on a brand new shirt_

_I'll get on over the work _

_If you say that you love me." _

Christina was in heaven! One of the things that most cheered her up was playing music and now that she was with her best friends of four years, nothing could top it.

"_Didn't I, didn't I didn't I see you crying_

_Oh, didn't I, didn't I didn't I see you crying!_

_Feeling all alone without a friend you know you feel like dieing,_

_Oh, didn't I, didn't I didn't I see you crying!_

_I want you to want me,_

_I need you to need me,_

_I love you to love me,_

_I'm begging you to beg me!_

_Shine up my old black shoes_

_I put on a brand new shirt_

_I get on over the work _

_If you say that you love me._

_Didn't I, didn't I didn't I see you crying_

_Oh, didn't I, didn't I didn't I see you crying!_

_Feeling all alone without a friend you know you feel like dieing,_

_Oh, didn't I, didn't I didn't I see you crying! HEY!_

Christina pulled back from the microphone and began an excellent guitar solo. 'ok, so she's really good with a guitar as well….wonder who the guys are …I have to talk to her….' Fred thought to himself as he stared at Christina along with the other gryffindors who couldn't believe that she sang that well. They hadn't even heard her talk for more than a minute since she came to Hogwarts, she was always the last to bed and the first to breakfast.

_Feeling all alone without a friend you know you feel like dieing,_

_Oh, didn't I, didn't I didn't I see you crying!_

_I want you to want me,_

_I need you to need me,_

_I love you to love me,_

_I'm begging you to beg me!_

_I want you to want me,_

_I want you to want me,_

_I want you to want me,_

_I want you to want me!_

"I Want You To Want Me" by Letters to Cleo

The song finished and the Gryffindors couldn't believe how good this girl was as she went on to sing a BRILLIANT version of Damien Rice's, "Volcano".

"Ok Krissy, Really sorry but we have to go now.. Its pretty late over here!" Kyle said as he went to take of his guitar. "No! Wait! One more song, Kyle! Please! I can't end on that song, I'll be miserable for days! How bout we end on a happy note?" She looked at Kyle and he said "Just a girl?" "You read my mind… One, Two, Three, Four!" And with that the loud sound of her guitar shattered the temporary silence that had formed while she was talking with Kyle. The amazing lead guitar of Christina, rhythm guitar of Kyle, bass of Charlie and drums of Jack played loud and hard as if they were trying to play over the noise of a thousand people screaming. Christina's voice carried over the instruments as she sang 'I'm Just a Girl' by No Doubt. Even though it was a very hard song to sing while playing the guitar she preformed beautifully.

Suddenly, Fred had a thought and whispered it down the line of students. 'I think we should leave before she's finished this song because I think she might not have liked being watched by an audience.' The rest of them agreed and made their way silently and unnoticed out of the dorm.

Once they were back down in the common-room, George started talking to Fred, "Hey, why wasn't she down here tonight? She's really good," Fred just nodded and George continued. "So, have you talked to her yet?"

"No, not yet…" Fred said back, his mind still in Christina's dorm. George looked at him with a 'WHAT?' look and said to him in a whisper so no one else could hear. "Fred! Would you mind telling me why you haven't talked to a cute girl like that when she's in the same house as you?" Fred looked round the common room, but then realized that if anyone saw them talking quietly they'd just assume that they were planning another prank. "I haven't had the chance to talk to her. I'd love to though." George just shook his head and rolled his eyes. "When will you learn! You have to go talk to her, because she might not come and talk to you." Fred just stood there, the expression on his face making him look like he was thinking. "Look, while you 'think' about this, I'm gonna go to bed! It's so tiring to actually do work now." George said slapping his brother on the back and heading for his dorm.

Fred sat in front of the fire for about an hour before giving up thought and heading to bed. He had spent the whole time trying to think of a way to talk to Christina, which turned out to be harder to do than he originally thought! He heard the fifth year girls going into their dorm, telling their so called 'lame' jokes. He laughed to himself and walked into his dorm, with all its sleeping patrons.

Christina had packed her guitar away and had the curtains drawn on her bed well before the rest of the girls walked back in. Alicia caught the rest of the girls' attention and called them over for a little conference.

"I think we should ask her about those guys." She whispered as they sat on her bed, the farthest from Christina's. "Yeah," Sarah whispered eagerly, "They were cute!" The other three others agreed and as Alicia jumped off her bed she whispered, "I'll ask her, but you guys have to come with!" They all tiptoed over, hoping that Christina wasn't already asleep.

Since the guys had left, Christina had been sitting crossed-legged on top of her covers writing in her diary about that day, and the surprise visit from her band. She had finished and re-read the last bit or two;

"…_It was fun playing with them again, and Kyle looked sooooooo good! Played excellent too! I was sad to see them go but after the others had 'vanished' or whatever they call it, Kyle blew me a kiss. I'm sure it would have been a better goodbye if he hadn't been a hologram that I could walk through but what can ya do! I'm gonna sleep now because its kind of late so,_

_A benoit,_

_Christina._"

She had just put her diary under her pillow when her curtains were ripped apart. She jumped at the sight of her five roommates leaning in on her bed. "Eh… can I help you?" As she said she would, Alicia spoke up first. "Erm… well, we saw you a little while ago and we were wondering… Who were those three guys that were up here with you?" Sarah butt in "Yeah, and why did they have a purple glow kinda fuzzy look about them?" Christina laughed. "You guys saw me playing with them earlier?" They nodded. "Okay, guess there's no point in keeping it a secret. Take a seat and I'll answer questions!" The four girls grew very excited and took seats on Christina's bed, all cross-legged like herself. "Those guys that you saw here were some of my friends back in Beauxbatons. And they looked really odd because they weren't really here. They were using a new hologram program, that's why they look fuzzy, they havn't sorted out all the bugs yet. What else would you like to know?"

The girls thought for a second and Karen asked the next question which turned out to be the one question the rest were thinking of asking. "So, there were really nice looking… Did you date any of them?" Christina couldn't help but blush at the question, which prompted a bit of encouragment from the others to tell.

"Well," Christina started, "I went out with Jack in first year, he's the drummer," she added, seeing the look of confusment of who 'Jack' was. "and I got introduced to Charlie, the bass player, and Kyle, the other guitarest, through him… But we soon realised it wouldn't work out… we were always arguing! So we broke up after two months but stayed friends. We formed the band in the beginning of second year and had a blast practising! Then in the beginning of third year, one of our practises got caught out by the fact that Charlie and Jack landed themselves in detention! So Kyle and myself practised for about an hour and then we talked… I think it was about five minutes into the conversation when – out of the blue – he kissed me…"

"Oooh….What did ya say?" Alicia asked, really getting into the retelling of Christina's love life at Beauxbatons… Christina responded, going slightly pink at the memory of it. "I just asked him 'Are you sure you wanna do this?' because I had already dated one of his friends and we had a very good friendship that might have been in danger… But he just nodded and kissed me again!"

"So how long did you guys last?" Caroline asked as she shifted the hair band that held the fringe of her extremely short blond hair back off her face. It was a little habit she picked up in boring classes.

"Well," Christina tried to smile to herself, determined not to get sad over what she was about to admit… "We dated all of third and fourth year… But decided a long distance relationship wasn't really going to work, so we parted ways on the last day of school… We still had feelings but because Hogwarts is so far from Beauxbatons, it just wouldn't have worked… I still kinda miss him though!"

The girls felt her sadness and Karen decided to lighten the mood a bit. "Well," she started, "I can say one thing. You've great taste in guys. They were cute!" Christina laughed along with the others, happy she was getting to know her new room-mates and possibly new friends.

The gossiping chat lasted hours before anyone decided to call it a night. They relaxed into their warm beds and allowed the night to sweep them away to wherever their dreams usually took them. The next morning, they all awoke around nine and chatted more as they dressed for the beautiful Saturday morning. Christina grabbed her bag before she left the dorm as she planned to do a bit of homework while chatting with the girls.

A little while later at breakfast, Christina was surprised to see a letter from her parents being delivered by what looked to be her aunt's owl. She opened it eagerly with a smile on her face but as she read through her face fell. Fred noticed then sudden change in mood, "Hey," he put his hand on her shoulder, "You ok?" She just jumped up and ran off with the letter still in her hand, leaving her bag and her half-eaten breakfast behind her. 'Wonder what has got her so upset?' he thought as he watched her disappear out of the huge doors of the hall.

Fred grabbed Christina's bag and raced up to Alicia a minute later when he saw her heading out of the hall, "Hey, you seen where Christina went?" Alicia replied with concern in her voice, "Yeah, I think she went to McGonagall's office but she's probably heading up to the tower, I'd love to see if she's ok but Snape would kill me if I missed detention. Can you get up to see her?"

"Yeah, I'll check on her now. I wonder what caused her to be so upset that she ran from the table…"

Alicia's happy face stayed with him as he headed up to the tower, as did her last words ringing in his head, "Thanks Fred! I knew you'd try! She's lucky to have a friend like you!"

When he reached the tower he saw her curled up on the couch and the letter on the ground beside her. As he drew closer and dropped her bag onto a chair, he noticed her tear stained face glittering in the morning sun. "Christina?" he said softly as he drew up to her. She didn't even look up at him she just whispered "I'm fine" before running up to her dorm. He heard the click in the lock and knew he wouldn't get to talk to her for a while. Collapsing on the couch in frustration, the letter caught his eye. He knew he shouldn't really look but it was the cause for her mood and he felt he needed to know so as to cheer her back up. He bent over and reached for it. The letter was on muggle paper and was written on in black pen. It read;

_Dear Christina,_

_I used the family crest as this concerns family matters. I have the unfortunate duty of informing you of an incident that happened Monday of last. Your mother collapsed at a get-together she was hosting and was brought swiftly to hospital where the cause of this sudden illness was assessed. Your mother is in a stable condition but the doctors are unsure of how long it will take before she wakes up. It may be a few hours or a few days but I will keep you informed. I am sorry I had to tell this to you but I didn't want you to be angry when you found out that you had been kept in the dark. Please forgive the lateness of me telling you but I wanted to have a better idea of your mother's condition before I sent you this letter. I am afraid that you cannot be excused from school to see her but I left the address of the hospital at the bottom of this letter so as you could send her a card or something to that effect. I will mail you any updates but do not worry, your mother isn't in danger anymore and she has the best medical care available. _

_Yours sincerely,_

_Ann Richardson._

'Wow.' He thought. 'Poor Krissy, If that letter had been for me…' He shuddered to think what he'd do if it had been for him. He couldn't believe that she had to deal with this news on top of having a new school and everything else.

After locking the door, Christina went to write a letter to her mother and father, but wondering why Fred seemed to care so much. That, however, was soon pushed aside as the feelings in her bubbled to the surface. She was so angry that Ann Richardson was the one to tell her about her mother. Ann Richardson had been a close friend of Samantha and Jack Molloy in the early years of Christina's life but she had been cruel and condescending towards Christina since she turned eleven and received her letter from Hogwarts. After refusing the offer and taking up another with Beauxbatons, Christina hadn't spoken to Ms. Richardson for fear of speaking her mind and getting her parents into a feud they didn't want. When her parents saw the way Ms. Richardson treated their daughter after they told her that Christina would be going to boarding school like her older sister did, they vowed to block her out of their family life and only spoke to her when it was absolutely necessary.

Christina magic-ed a card for her mother with a get-well wish on it, signing her signature to it at the end and wrote a letter to her father. She was so angry while writing the letter that she broke more than one quill by squeezing too hard.

_Hey dad,_

_I am extremely sorry to hear about mom but I was so angry because of who told me! Did you or did you not promise me that you wouldn't speak to her again after the way she treated Lisa and myself? _

She flinched at the name. She didn't like to think about it, and continued on with the letter.

_I don't mind you not telling me as you do have other things on your mind at the moment, and I wish mom the best, but how did Ann Richardson get involved? And why can I not leave school to see you and mom? Please tell me how mom is and why I cannot come and see her? I'm waiting for your reply and PLEASE use my owl, she's very fast, much faster than Fiona's. Write soon, and I love you!_

_Christina_

She walked to the window and whistled like she did before, and as before, Electra came to her dorm swiftly. She sent the letter to her aunt so as not to have owls flying into the hospital.

She thought she best go down and see if Fred was still there, he did deserve an explanation after the way she just ran off at breakfast and in the common room. She wiped the tears off her face and unlocked the door.

Fred had put the letter back where it had been and was thinking about heading back to breakfast when he heard the door unlock. Christina came out, very slowly and headed down to him. She walked over and curled up beside him on the couch. Her eyes were puffy and her face was still slightly red from her being so angry at Ann Richardson. "I'm sorry, Fred. I didn't mean to run off like that, I was just upset." He didn't want to admit that he'd read the letter in case she would get even angrier so he promised to himself that if she didn't tell him, he would never speak of it again.

"I'm sorry." She said again. "It's ok. You don't need to apologise. But just know that I'm here if you want to talk about it. Sometimes it's better if you do." She knew he was right and decided to tell him about the letter. She handed it to him and he read it though again pretending it was his first reading of it, just so she wouldn't be upset. "Oh… are you ok?" She gathered her strength, determined not to cry. "Yes. I'm ok." Fred looked into her eyes and could see that she wasn't fully okay with the situation, but he didn't want to push it. "So who's Ann Richardson?" Christina's face turned dark. The anger and hatred was almost visible about her. "Ann Richardson was the bane of my life." And she went on to explain about the relationship between Richardson and her parents. "Wow, she really doesn't like boarding schools, does she?"

"She felt it was a way to get rid of an unwanted child and thought it in my best interests to interfere. What did she know about my best interests! It got to a point where I was so angry at her that every time a saw her, a cup or a plate or a glass or some form of easy-to-break item, would smash into a million pieces, even if it was all the way across the room! I don't think she suspected anything though, because she never seemed any different when talking to any of us." Fred re-adjusted himself on the couch so he could put his arm around her. It seemed like the right thing to do because he would have been the closest thing she had to a best friend in Hogwarts. He was a bit anxious in case she didn't want him to do it but she much appreciated it and moved in closer, resting her head on his shoulder and holding her knees about her chest. It felt good to have someone to lean on again. All summer she had had no one and even though Fred was only a friend, and a new one at that, it felt right to have someone that close again.

Other people were coming back from breakfast but didn't stay in the common room for long. Most wanted to get their homework out of the way and headed to the library. But some, like Karen Stone, headed for their dorms for a bit of a sleep until lunch, or maybe even dinner. Christina and Fred continued to talk for a while, each one feeling completely comfortable with the other. "So Ms. Richardson knows you're a witch?" Fred asked as Christina moved in a bit closer. "No. We never told her. That's why she thought it so bad that I was going to boring school."

"Then how did she send you the letter here?"

"I figure she gave it to my aunt because obviously she would never have had the address and since Fiona's owl delivered it I recon she gave it to her at the hospital. Fiona was bound to turn up to see if there was any magical way to help mom, just in case the muggle doctors couldn't help her. What I don't get is why Ann Richardson was even at the hospital in the first place. It's not like she would have been invited. I guess I won't know about anything till I get a response to the letter I sent a while ago."

"So what did you go see McGonagall about?"

"How'd you know I went to McGonagall?"

"Alicia saw you heading in the direction of her office when you ran out earlier."

"Oh, well I was trying to see if I could be excused from school, even till Monday morning but she said that if the letter said I couldn't go then I couldn't go."

"You know, it's odd…" She said looking up at him. He looked down into her face curiously. "What is?"

"Nah, never mind… it's stupid." He looked into her eyes, "Tell me! Please? I won't slag you about it. I promise." She thought about it for a second and decided she could trust him. "Well, okay. The day I got here, I went out to the lake and I fell asleep in the sun. And I had this really odd dream." She spent the next ten minutes telling him about the dream she had about the stage performance and about the snakes.

"…It hissed in a mocking kinda way before lunging for my face, fangs poised. And just as it was about to strike, I jumped awake… And I know it has something to do with my mom." Fred was confused. "What do you mean? How could they be connected?"

"Well, I had it the same day as she collapsed. I've only had the one other dream that ended the same way and it was when L –" She stopped, not being able to comprehend how she had nearly told him. Fred was concerned. "When what? You ok Krissy?" she suddenly retracted out of his arms, her eyes were no longer puffy but wide and shocked. "What's wrong?" She avoided his eyes and stood up. "I have to go; I think I have some work to do." Knowing that Karen was up in the dorm, she headed for the portrait and once she was through it, she ran as fast as her legs would carry her.

Fred watched her unbelievingly as she walked out and just before the portrait swung shut he could have sworn he heard her run. 'What the hell just happened?' He thought as he stood up. 'Maybe I should follow her' 'Don't' said a voice in his head. 'She ran for a reason, to be alone or to get away, Don't go after her.' Fred thought about if for a few minutes, finally agreeing with the voice. 'I'll talk to her when she gets back.' He thought as he headed back down stairs to catch the end of breakfast.

She ran till she was on the other side of the castle, and only stopping then for a bit of air. 'How did I almost tell him?' She thought, 'I'm such an idiot!' She was leaning against the wall, just mulling things over, when she heard quick footsteps coming up behind her. She turned to see a guy running, looking behind him. And by the time her brain kicked in and he had turned back around it was too late. He crashed head-on into her, sending both of them to the stone floor. Christina tried to grab the wall but it didn't work and her head smashed off the ground. Everything went fuzzy and dim for a minute but it slowly went away. She went to sit up but realized that the guy was still on top of her. He looked to have smacked his head too so she just pushed him over gently and sat against the wall with her head in her hands trying to rid herself of the headache from impact. She felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped, snapping her head up to see whom it was. Bad mistake, as her headache doubled in pain. She flinched and the person bent down beside her. "Hey, you ok?" She looked up, slower this time, to see who it was. She recognised him instantly, it was the cute fourth year, blond Slytherin she had seen at the Sorting. "Yeah, I'll be ok. Just a bit of a headache."

"Really sorry about running into you…I didn't see you." There was bitterness in his voice. She had a feeling it had something to do with why he was running but didn't care to ask. "Well why would you? You were facing the other way." She shot back in his face. She didn't mean to throw it back at him, it just happened. He laughed, "I see what Smith was talking about."

"What do you mean?" Christina remembered quite clearly who 'Smith' was and didn't care to discuss him either.

"Never mind." He said, in a cold voice as he offered his hand to help her up and she grudgingly took it.

"You should get that checked." She said pointing to the side of his head where his blond hair had turned pink from blood. "Sure – I'm Draco Malfoy by the way, and why were you standing here?"

"Christina Molly and why were you running?" "I asked you first." His face had been growing softer ever since she showed concern about his head and she had to smile at this. He really did look good, even with the cold, evil eyes. So they walked down towards the hospital wing just chatting about anything and everything. As they were passing through the entrance hall the last few stragglers were heading out of the Great hall after having breakfast, including the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger. The two groups saw each other at the same time and you could cut the tension with a knife. Draco stopped in his tracks and ceased talking the second he saw them, while Fred had stopped mid stretch as his eyes landed on her and Draco. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny glared and Alicia, Katie and Angelina just looked shocked to see Christina talking with their enemy. George appeared from behind the girls with a concerned look. "Christina -" He begun but she took Draco's arm, and started walking away from the group. "Lets go." He followed her lead and the others just gaped at them. The amount of hatred Christina had seen in that group was unbelievable! 'How could they hate him that much?' She thought as they made there way silently towards the hospital wing. When they reached the doors he turned to her, "Thanks for keeping me company. Maybe I'll see you around?" She smiled. "Sure. Hope your heads ok." He turned and walked in through the doors leaving them slightly ajar by accident. Christina was about to turn and head back to the tower when she heard voices walking down the corridor. She recognised them and quickly darted into a shadowy arch in the wall.

Shaun, Holly, Darren and Laura were walking together, down towards the hospital wing. Christina was praying that they didn't see her, as another 'chat' with them wouldn't be on the top of her favourites list! As they drew closer she could make out what they were saying.

"Come on, Hol!" Shaun said to his girlfriend, "He's an idiot! Too bad you only got him on the side of the head. Wish you had turned that stupid blond head of his red. The twat deserves it!"

"Yeah," agreed Laura, "Who turns down an early shot at serving our lord! Me and Darren were ready when we were in fourth year but we had to wait till fifth year! If you ask me, Lucius wasted his time trying to get Draco in early! He doesn't even know the meaning of being a good Death Eater! I bet he wouldn't have even been able to kill some stupid mudblood for his initiation!"

"Not like Hol here!" Shaun laughed. "Couldn't kill that weird kid quick enough!"

"Shut up!" Holly responded playfully. "I tried to get him at the station before we left but he dodged in between a bunch of muggles. And anyway, I would have hurt Malfoy enough today so he'd be out for most of the year but _someone_ had to slow us down!"

"Well sorry! Can't a girl go to the toilet without getting yelled at?" Laura responded jokingly.

"Calm down guys, we'll get him next time." Came the voice of Darren as they passed Christina's hiding place, she could see them now, heading towards the doors of the hospital. "Lets check in here -" Holly said, as she was about to push the door open. Shaun leapt forward and grabbed her hands, pulling her backwards. "No, Pomfry will suspect something."

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks for saving me!" She smiled at him and he kissed her before taking her round the shoulders. Darren grabbed Shaun's robes and pulled him out of the kiss. "We have to get back!" Shaun looked disappointed. "Yeah, you're right, as usual." He murmured as he put his arm round Holly and they walked on. 

After their footsteps had echoed off into the distance, Christina emerged from her hiding place processing what she had just heard. 'A death eater? That's why he was running… but why didn't he want to be one, being in Slytherin and all…' She thought. "Maybe you shouldn't stereotype people, Krissy." She said aloud, heading back towards the tower. As she approached the common room she saw the portrait half open and one of the Weasley twins, heads out talking to Harry who stood just outside. She pressed against the wall in an effort to hear what they were saying and not be seen. She didn't mean to be so nosey but she didn't like walking up to people and them going silent all of a sudden.

"She's new, I don't think she even knew who she was talking to…" the red-haired 6th year whispered.

"I agree, Fred, but watch out for her! Malfoy never has anything on his mind but his own interests, who knows even why he was walking with her. I'm heading down to the Quidditch field. Angelina wants me to practise not getting hit by bludgers…"

"Have fun!" Fred said sarcastically, laughing as he closed the portrait.

"Don't worry, I will!" Harry answered, in just as a sarcastic tone.

Christina's thoughts of the meeting with Malfoy and the Slytherins were pushed to the back of her mind as an image formed in her head. The Quidditch Field. She hadn't even seen it and all she wanted to do was play! 'I'll have to see about that later' she thought as she walked forward, gave the password and headed inside…

She saw the usual group of fourth, fifth and sixth years sitting by the fire. Minus Harry and Angelina, of course. They called her over and she sat down in between the twins. "So, everyone have a good night?" She asked, getting comfortable. They all nodded but kept looking at her oddly. She caught this very quickly and asked, "What's everyone looking at?" A few glances were exchanged before Hermione piped up, "Well, we were wondering, why were you talking with Malfoy?" The group focused in on Christina and she got very creped out. "We ran into each other and just started talking! It's not a crime is it?" She said with a mixed expression of sarcasm and annoyance on her face. "No, no. Never mind." George said, trying to settle the issue.

Slowly but surely the group started talking about other things and began to separate into a few little groups, unintentionally of course. And Christina ended up talking about Quidditch with Ron, Fred and George.

"That was a _brilliant _match!" Ron had to admit. "Although, Lynch took a beating!"

Christina laughed, "Yeah, I guess he did! But it's not that bad… He got up after the first hit into the ground. I saw him the next day, and he still looked pretty battered!"

"You saw him!" George exclaimed, unbelievingly. Christina smiled, "He lives in Dublin and I saw him in town when I was saying goodbye to my friends for the year."

"I remember that day pretty well…" Ron mumbled. "We get back from the World Cup after all that mayhem and find out that mom never got around to going to Diagon Ally!" A small twitch of a grin appeared on Fred's face at the memory as Christina responded to Ron's mumbling. "Ah, it wasn't that bad! If you hadn't gone to Diagon Ally, we'd never have met! Or at least not until I got here and I wouldn't have had such great help getting to the tower on the first night!" She put her hand on George's shoulder and with a sparkle in her eyes, thanked him for his help that night; she then turned to Fred and done the same but with a slightly different sparkle in her eye. "And anyway, it doesn't matter if Lynch was battered, we still won didn't we! Go on the Irish!" She stated, fist in the air. The guys laughed and got on to more important topics…

"No, we'll be grand! Slytherin don't stand a chance! Not with Malfoy as their seeker! They sacrificed a _lot_ to get those Nimbus 2001's!" George stated confidently.

"When's your next practise?" Christina enquired, while absent mildly resting her head on Fred's shoulder. George noticed this and was going to grin till he thought of the question. "Angelina is worse than Wood when it comes to practise. She's a great captain and everything, it's just… Who wants to practise at 8am on a Sunday morning!" He replied quietly so as none of the others that were just a few feet away, wouldn't hear him. "You think there'd be any free time left on the booking of the pitch?"

Ron snorted. "Not bloody likely! We had to fight just to get a few practices a week! Why you ask?" Christina's face fell slightly. "I was just wondering because I haven't been able to play since last year and I really want to… I used to organise a friendly game once a month back at Beauxbatons." "Did you win?" George asked now grinning over how torn Fred must be feeling. He wasn't used to having people, let alone girls he liked, resting their heads on his shoulder. Christina laughed, "With me as a beater? We won every time! I nearly hit Ms. Maxime with a bludger at Christmas last year. One of the guys placed himself perfectly so as that if a bludger came towards him, he would move slightly and it would go for Ms. Maxime! Jokes on him though. Jack, the other beater, was passing by and walloped it before it came _near _Ms. Maxime and it ended up smacking him in the butt! It was hilarious! And then there was this one time when -" Someone cleared their throat loudly, interrupting Christina mid-sentence. All four of them looked in the direction of the noise to see Angelina standing in her muddy Quidditch robes, pointing at the clock. "I told you guys 1130 hours! Its 1300 now, so how late does that make you?" The guys all mumbled their apologies, along with Katie and Alicia, and stood up to get ready. "See you later, Krissy!" Fred and George said simultaneously with which Ron timed in, "yeah, catch you later!" Christina jumped up and gave the guys a hug 'goodbye'. First Ron, then George and finally Fred. They both held it a bit longer than the others would have and when they separated, she smiled at him and he said he'd see her at dinner. After the Quidditch team had left, Hermione picked up a book to read while Christina plopped back down onto the couch. She sat there for a while, thinking 'things are pretty damn good here.' and she got pretty comfortable because she wasn't hungry enough for lunch. Before she knew it, she was dosing off, still pretty tired from the gossiping night before.

She could feel the warmth of the now flaming fire against her skin as she started to awake from her little nap. But before she could open her eyes, she heard whispers, and being too tired to do anything, she decided to just listen.

"How long has she been asleep?" It was a guy's voice, but she was too lazy to figure out whom and a girl's voice answered, still in whispers.

"Since you left. She looked really peaceful so I decided not to wake her till dinner. I was just about to get her up now when you came back."

"Cool, I was just about to head down, but as you can see, I wanted to change first."

There was silence for a minute, broken by laughter. Christina finally decided to open her eyes, and she yawned at the same time. "Well, good afternoon, Ms. Molloy! Nice to see you up!" It was Fred and he had been talking to Hermione, who was still in giggles in an armchair. Christina looked up at Fred and found out why Hermione was giggleing. He was _covered_ in mud and he just looked so miserable and cold that it was funny. "Good afternoon Mr. Mud-Man!" She responded with a grin on her face. "Right, not funny Krissy." It was… he just was too muddy and cold to enjoy being the centre of attention. "If you wait here a minute, I'll change." Christina agreed and sat up stretching as he ran up to get changed. "Where's the rest of the team?" She asked Hermione as she was putting her book away. "They came back up and changed a few minutes ago. They're all at dinner." A door was heard to bang upstairs. Both the girls turned to see a clean and changed Weasley running down the stairs. "WOW! That was quick!" Hermione gasped, "How do guys do that?" Fred just smiled "Shall we?" he asked Christina, offering his arm before mumbling so only Hermione could hear, "I had motivation." Christina linked with him and they walked out, leaving the utterly confused Hermione trailing behind.

Down at dinner Christina and Fred sat across from each other, just talking about anything and everything. "So Wood was the old captain?" She asked pouring herself some more juice. "Yeah, I thought I told you about him?"

"Only briefly!"

"Well anyway, next time I'm writing to him you'll have to remind me to thank him?" "For what?" Fred moved in closer and motioned for her to do the same.

"For not starting practice so early and for not running us _all day_!" He whispered so the others wouldn't hear. "What do you mean all day?" She whispered back.

"We found out Angelina booked the pitch for the whole of tomorrow!"

"Ouch! That's going to wreck your arm!"

"Tell me about it!"

"Look on the bright side, if you do wreck your arm, that means there'll be a beater spot open on the team!" She giggled. "And I'd be more than happy to take up the opportunity!"

"Not if I have anything to do with it!" He said jokingly. They both laughed and continued talking.

Hermione was sitting beside George, a few seats down from Christina and Fred, watching the friendship blooming between them as they talked and laughed. She was thinking of the comment Fred had thrown at her as they were leaving the common room. "Hey George," he turned to her, "Have you noticed how close your brother and Christina have been getting?" She motioned to Fred who had Christina in hysterical laughter, as usual! "They'd make a really good couple!" George smiled at how his brother was acting around his newfound love interest. Usually if he fancied someone he got all nervous around her and made a fool of himself. But with Christina, he was totally himself! "Erm, I guess they would. But don't go blabbing it around, Hermione, ok? It might destroy the friendship they have! Like it did to Gibbs and Berry." Hermione agreed she'd keep it quiet, remembering the case of Gibbs and Berry. Hermione had only been in first year when it happened. Two seventh years, Robert Gibbs in Hufflepuff and Louise Berry in Ravenclaw had been great friends. Very close friends, almost like brother and sister. But a Slytherin started spreading roomers about them, and they got so many slaggins whenever they talked to each other that their friendship disintegrated within two months of the roomers starting. Hermione didn't want to see that ever happen again so she decided to keep her mouth shut.

After dinner everyone headed back up to the tower and sat around the fire for a while before bed. Christina talked with everyone that night and was becoming way more comfortable around the group, and the group were becoming accustomed to having a new member, taking advice about pranks and problems at every opportunity. Christina had a way of thinking things through logically, and logic in a prank was _priceless_ if you wanted to pull it off perfectly!

Over the next few weeks, things got easier for Christina. She got used to the homework, the classes and the layout of the castle. She got really close with the 'Quidditch group' as they were known by the teachers, and even became great friends with Hermione and Ginny as well as other girls in her dorm. She had a few run-ins with the Slytherin group from the train and another few chats with Draco Malfoy who was actually being very nice to her. But other than that nothing really interesting happened. Things were going great.


End file.
